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<law><site_title>Virginia Decoded</site_title><site_url>https://vacode.org</site_url><law_id>70410</law_id><section_number>8.01-216.2</section_number><catch_line>Definitions</catch_line><edition url="https://vacode.org/2025/" slug="2025" current="TRUE" last_updated="">2025</edition><structure><unit label="title" level="1" order_by="1" identifier="8.01">Civil Remedies and Procedure</unit><unit label="chapter" level="2" order_by="1" identifier="3">Actions</unit><unit label="article" level="3" order_by="1" identifier="19.1">Virginia Fraud Against Taxpayers Act</unit></structure><text>
						<section><p>As used in this article, unless the context requires otherwise:
		&#x201C;<span class="dictionary">Attorney General</span>&#x201D; means the <span class="dictionary">Attorney General</span> of Virginia, the Chief Deputy, other deputies, <span class="dictionary">counsels</span> or assistant attorneys general employed by the Office of the <span class="dictionary">Attorney General</span> and designated by the <span class="dictionary">Attorney General</span> to act pursuant to this article.
		&#x201C;<span class="dictionary">Claim</span>&#x201D; means any request or demand, whether under a <span class="dictionary">contract</span> or otherwise, for money or property, regardless of whether the <span class="dictionary">Commonwealth</span> has title to the money or property, that (i) is presented to an officer, <span class="dictionary">employee</span>, or agent of the <span class="dictionary">Commonwealth</span> or (ii) is made to a contractor, grantee, or other recipient (a) if the money or property is to be spent or used on the <span class="dictionary">Commonwealth</span>&#x2019;s behalf or to advance a governmental program or interest and (b) if the <span class="dictionary">Commonwealth</span> provides or has provided any portion of the money or property requested or demanded or will reimburse such contractor, grantee, or other recipient for any portion of the money or property that is requested or demanded. For purposes of this article, &#x201C;<span class="dictionary">claim</span>&#x201D; does not include requests or demands for money or property that the <span class="dictionary">Commonwealth</span> has paid to an individual as compensation for employment with the <span class="dictionary">Commonwealth</span> or as income subsidy with no restriction on that individual&#x2019;s use of the money or property.
		&#x201C;<span class="dictionary">Commonwealth</span>&#x201D; means the <span class="dictionary">Commonwealth</span> of Virginia, any agency of state government, and any political subdivision of the <span class="dictionary">Commonwealth</span>.
		&#x201C;<span class="dictionary">Documentary material</span>&#x201D; means the original or any copy of any book, record, report, <span class="dictionary">memorandum</span>, paper, communication, tabulation, chart, or other document, or data compilations stored in or accessible through computer or other information retrieval systems, together with instructions and all other <span class="dictionary">materials</span> necessary to use or interpret such data compilations, and any <span class="dictionary">product of discovery</span>.
		&#x201C;<span class="dictionary">Employee</span>&#x201D; includes an <span class="dictionary">employee</span> or officer of the <span class="dictionary">Commonwealth</span>.
		&#x201C;<span class="dictionary">Employer</span>&#x201D; includes the <span class="dictionary">Commonwealth</span>.
		&#x201C;<span class="dictionary">Investigation</span>&#x201D; means any inquiry conducted by an investigator for the purpose of ascertaining whether any <span class="dictionary">person</span> is or has been engaged in any violation of this article.
		&#x201C;Material&#x201D; means having a natural tendency to influence, or be capable of influencing, the payment or receipt of money or property.
		&#x201C;<span class="dictionary">Obligation</span>&#x201D; means an established duty, whether or not fixed, arising from (i) an express or implied contractual, grantor-grantee, or licensor-licensee relationship; (ii) a fee-based or similar relationship; (iii) a <span class="dictionary">statute</span> or regulation; or (iv) the retention of any overpayment.
		&#x201C;<span class="dictionary">Official use</span>&#x201D; means any use that is consistent with the <span class="dictionary">law</span>, regulations, and policies of the <span class="dictionary">Commonwealth</span>, including use in connection with (i) internal memoranda and reports of the Office of the <span class="dictionary">Attorney General</span>; (ii) communications between the Office of the <span class="dictionary">Attorney General</span> and a federal, state, or local government agency, or a contractor of a federal, state, or local government agency, undertaken in furtherance of an Office of the <span class="dictionary">Attorney General</span> <span class="dictionary">investigation</span> or <span class="dictionary">prosecution</span> of a case; (iii) interviews of any qui tam relator or other <span class="dictionary">witness</span>; (iv) oral examinations; (v) <span class="dictionary">depositions</span>; (vi) the preparation for and response to civil discovery requests; (vii) the introduction into the record of a case or proceeding; (viii) applications, <span class="dictionary">motions</span>, memoranda, and <span class="dictionary">briefs</span> submitted to a <span class="dictionary">court</span> or other tribunal; and (ix) communications with government investigators, auditors, consultants, experts, the <span class="dictionary">counsel</span> of other parties, arbitrators, and mediators, concerning an <span class="dictionary">investigation</span>, case, or proceeding.
		&#x201C;<span class="dictionary">Person</span>&#x201D; includes any natural <span class="dictionary">person</span>, corporation, firm, association, organization, partnership, limited liability company, business or trust.
		&#x201C;<span class="dictionary">Product of discovery</span>&#x201D; means (i) the original or duplicate of any <span class="dictionary">deposition</span>, <span class="dictionary">interrogatory</span>, document, thing, result of the inspection of land or other property, examination, or admission, which is obtained by any method of discovery in any judicial or administrative proceeding of an adversarial nature; (ii) any digest, analysis, selection, compilation, or derivation of any item listed in clause (i); and (iii) any index or other manner of access to any item listed in clause (i).</p></section></text><history>2002, c. 842; 2011, cc. 651, 676.</history><metadata></metadata></law>
